I'm the first to admit that I get a bit excentric when it comes to conservation of heat, electricity, water... Not all-out crazy, but I do have my little things that some others find, well, quirky. This isn't the regulalr, boring stuff that acually saves significant resources, like insulating, programable thermostats, CFLs....most of us do all that, I'm interested in the dumb little things that make you special . I figure there are many here with even stranger little habits than mine, so let's hear some. I'll start:
-I try to fill the kettle with just about the amount of water I actually need when I'm making coffee or whatever. My wife ussually just fills it right up whenever she boils water. I know better than to hound her about little stuff like that so instead I take the extra hot water & pour it into the steamer on the insert. Voila, pre-heated steamer re-fill.
-I take the (exterior) screens of my South, East & West windows in fall so that I get full-power sunlight & heat through the windows, then replace come spring.
-I close-off our spare bedroom & don't heat it unless people are staying over & sleeping in there (not that strange I guess).
-I use caulking backer rod or pipe insulation to block the grill of my car in winter. It helps the engine warm-up & get to peak efficiency sooner from cold.
-Instead of running the bathroom fan when I shower in winter, I point the floor fan in there & blast the warm, moist air out the door into the rest of the house where it's needed.
What do you do?
Just to put things in perspective here, I have a buddy who refuses to turn his furnace on in winter. He puts an oil heater in the room he's in, bundles up in hats, coats, slippers... and uses an electric blanket when he's working on the computer. It can be 40 degrees in his house & I've seen ice in the toilet. He can tell you how many cents per day the electric blanket costs to run. My wife refuses to visit him this time of year.
Oh and I have a neighbor who drinks her coffee while sitting on the toilet each morning because she leaves the furnace off until after work & only heats the bathroom with a space heater.
-I try to fill the kettle with just about the amount of water I actually need when I'm making coffee or whatever. My wife ussually just fills it right up whenever she boils water. I know better than to hound her about little stuff like that so instead I take the extra hot water & pour it into the steamer on the insert. Voila, pre-heated steamer re-fill.
-I take the (exterior) screens of my South, East & West windows in fall so that I get full-power sunlight & heat through the windows, then replace come spring.
-I close-off our spare bedroom & don't heat it unless people are staying over & sleeping in there (not that strange I guess).
-I use caulking backer rod or pipe insulation to block the grill of my car in winter. It helps the engine warm-up & get to peak efficiency sooner from cold.
-Instead of running the bathroom fan when I shower in winter, I point the floor fan in there & blast the warm, moist air out the door into the rest of the house where it's needed.
What do you do?
Just to put things in perspective here, I have a buddy who refuses to turn his furnace on in winter. He puts an oil heater in the room he's in, bundles up in hats, coats, slippers... and uses an electric blanket when he's working on the computer. It can be 40 degrees in his house & I've seen ice in the toilet. He can tell you how many cents per day the electric blanket costs to run. My wife refuses to visit him this time of year.
Oh and I have a neighbor who drinks her coffee while sitting on the toilet each morning because she leaves the furnace off until after work & only heats the bathroom with a space heater.